Breaking the Cycle
by psychored1911
Summary: It always ends up the same. No matter what is done, the cycle of death and destruction caused by the Holy Grail War repeats itself over and over again. But, change it up a bit and throw in a Wild Card or two into the mix and a new fate is told.
1. Chapter 1

**Breaking the Cycle**

**By psychored1911**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, Persona 3 Portable or Fate/Apocrypha. Yeah, you heard me. Not Fate/Stay Night. Fate/Apocrypha. That novel in the Nasuverse that somehow is set in Romania.**

**Also, if you don't understand some of what I'm talking about, I suggest you go to the Type-Moon Wiki to get some sense of what I'm saying.**

**And before we begin, I'd like to clarify some things: This is technically only the prologue, like the Unbirth Chapter for Apocrypha. It takes place right after S.E.E.S destroyed the Chariot and Justice Full Moon Shadows, so Minato is neither the complete powerhouse he is by the end of the game nor is he defenseless like he is in the beginning of the game. (He should be ~level 30). This should be fun.**

**Chapter 1: Rebirth**

* * *

><p>The Holy Grail War.<p>

It is a bloody battle between seven magi for the Holy Grail, an omnipotent wish granting tool.

To this end, these magi summon Heroic Spirits from generations past to fight alongside them in this intense battle royale.

However, after the eve of the Third Grail War, the dawn of the Second World War, a magus supporting the Nazis had discovered the Grail, and attempted to remove it with the help of the Nazi Party. The Three founding families: the Tohsakas, the Makiris, and the Einzberns, fought to reclaim it, but as it was almost immediately after the end of the Third War, they were weakened and quickly defeated.

With the Holy Grail in their hands, the Nazi Regime would have had the world in their clutches.

However, such a future did not come to pass; the Grail had vanished in their hands just as they were returning to Germany. The Grail, and the magus who found it, had simply disappeared.

The three founding families went into despair with the Grail's disappearance. The Makiris had seemingly perished, whereas the Tohsakas simply gave up on it. The Einzberns' reactions were the worst; they went into denial and attempted to make another Holy Grail. However, nothing had come to pass. With the Grail gone, Fuyuki City- the site of all previous Grail Wars- can finally settle in peace.

And so the seasons passed, decades go by, until the even the young became old…

* * *

><p><strong>86/2009- Late Night**

An alluring woman, one who could drive men mad with a simple gaze, walked alone, aimlessly down a certain street in Iwatodai City, talking to a partner whom only she could see. To the average person, one would think the woman was mad. However, to those with much darker intents, one would think the woman was _vulnerable_.

_**23:59:57**_

_**23:59:58**_

_**23:59:59**_

_**00:00:00**_

"Hmm?"

The woman looked around in apparent confusion. The buildings, the sky, even the full moon turn a sickly green. Coffins now stood where humans once were. Small pools of blood formed all throughout the streets.

"Yeah, this is the first time I'm experiencing this too. I don't know what this is either…"

The woman said to her invisible partner.

If an ordinary human were to stumble upon the Dark Hour, they would easily fall prey to the Shadows, becoming one of The Lost. Only those with the 'potential' should be able to fully function within the Dark Hour. It was unknown if she was either, but there was one thing that was certain; if something were to happen to her, or to anyone, nobody would even notice. No one will even care.

_Nobody would hear her scream…_

After forty minutes or so, as she kept ambling down the lonely street, two oddly-dressed men approached her.

One was half-naked, wearing only a pair of faded jeans and brown boots, with a red scarf tucked into his back pocket. He had long wavy hair and tattoos on both of his arms. Disturbingly, he had a large revolver tucked into his waistband.

His friend looked just as strange. He was wearing a green jacket with detached sleeves covered in black straps, and dark blue pants. He wore orange tinted glasses and short black hair. Strangely, he was holding both a silver briefcase and what looked like a grenade in his hands.

"Good evening."

The half-naked man greeted with a grim, disturbing smile.

"Are you surprised? Truth be told, we all visit this world every night."

"…"

The woman did not answer, only acknowledging the words of her unseen companion.

"Hey! Didn't mommy teach you any manners?" the glasses-wearing man taunted "You haven't even introduced yourself!"

"…"

"You know, I have never met you before…" The half-naked man slowly drew his revolver before pointing it at the woman "Yet I already loathe you…"

Unbeknownst to them, the woman was thinking the exact same thing.

_*Slice!*_

"Huh?" The half-naked man uncharacteristically blurted out. He turned to his friend; his throat was slashed, his arms were cleaved right off, his chest was slashed open, and his throat looked like it was stabbed repeatedly before finally falling on the ground.

But that wasn't the disturbing part. Before his friend's fallen body, there stood a scantily-dressed little girl with white hair and silver eyes, holding two blood-stained knives in his hands, and four more sheathed on her person. However, the half-naked man knows one thing for sure…

_She wasn't human…_

"What should we do with him, _Master/Mother_?"

The little girl asked, her legion-like voice bellowing across the silent hour.

The half-naked man glared at the child "Little brat…" He clutched his head with his free hand "Hyp-"

_*SLASH!*_

The white haired child slashed off the half-naked man's revolver hand, disarming him and shattering whatever focus he had.

The woman, unfazed by the gore and bloodshed, took the revolver from the bloody hand and aimed it at the half-naked man.

"Hey, according to Jack here," she pointed at the white-haired girl "You have a lot of evil in you. I can tell you would band together with other people such as yourself. Mind telling me where they are?"

The half-naked man glared at the woman, before giving her a smug smile "If you think that this is the part where I tell you where my friends are in a desperate attempt to save my own life, then you are sorely mistaken."

"So be it then." The woman stood up, dusting off her designer boots "Jack? You can eat them now."

The white-haired girl known as Jack licked her lips in hunger "With pleasure, _Master/Mother_." She plunged her knives into the half-naked man's chest and easily carved his heart right out, letting him die in agony. However, he bit back his urge to cry out, denying the woman the pleasure of hearing his miserable screams.

Swallowing the still beating heart, Jack then went to the other body and carved out his heart, swallowing that one just as easily as the first.

"So Jack, does it taste good?"

The woman, Reika Rikudou, asked as she endearingly tousled Jack's hair.

"Yes _Master/Mother_, their evil hearts tasted wonderful…" Jack burped cutely "Their hearts were far more filling than the ones we ate before, though.

The woman smiled back at her "Well, that's good to hear-"

She paused as Jack's gaze suddenly shifted north.

"Jack? What's wrong?"

Jack began to drool uncontrollably.

"Master/Mother, we sense a tremendous source of prana over there. Can we eat it?" Jack pleaded like a precocious child.

Reika smiled "Of course Jack. You go on ahead, I'll catch up."

Jack smiled adorably as she dematerialized into Spirit form.

* * *

><p>"Man, I'm beat…"<p>

Junpei muttered as he and the rest of S.E.E.S walked down the street. Mere moments ago, S.E.E.S had succeeded in eliminating the current Full Moon Shadows, The Chariot and Justice, and now they were walking home, exhausted.

"You're telling me," Yukari moaned "I didn't expect two of them to be there."

"Eheheh," Fuuka chuckled nervously "Sorry about that…"

"Don't worry about it," Akihiko, perhaps the only one besides Aigis who wasn't visibly exhausted, reassured Fuuka "We got em', that's all that matters."

"Yes, you shouldn't blame yourself Yamagishi." Mitsuru added "We probably wouldn't have been able to find them without you."

"…" Fuuka's face blushed from the praise.

As they kept walking, Minato, who was walking behind S.E.E.S., started noticing a black fog catching up from behind them, surrounding him. In a matter of seconds, Minato was completely engulfed in this enigmatic mist.

"Strange, you are not affected by our Mist."

Minato turned around; a scantily-dressed little girl with white hair and gray eyes stood behind him, holding two blood-stained knives in her hands and four sheathed upon her person, quietly approached him. For some reason, everything in his instincts told him to run from this girl as fast as he possibly could.

"We're sorry for this. We usually go after 'evil' people, but the prana reservoir within you, it's too much not to ignore…" She licked her lips in hunger, staring at Minato like a predator at its prey.

"!" Minato drew his sword, cautiously backing away as she slowly walked towards him.

The girl spun the knives in her hands and lunged at him "Die!"

Before Minato could react, the girl slammed her foot into Minato's chest, sending him flying into a wall.

_*SLAM!*_

"Graaah!" Minato cried out in pain as his body slumped onto the hard ground. The kid's small size was extremely disproportionate to her strength; he could already feel several ribs cracked within his chest, obviously not helping the wounds he obtained earlier through the Full Moon Shadows.

"Do not worry, it will all be over soon." The girl, Jack, said quietly, holding her knives in an icepick grip and reeling her arms back, ready to pounce on her prey. Minato, unable to move from the pain, could only shut his eyes and await the killing blow.

"Palladion!"

The form of Palladion appeared before Minato, intercepting Jack's attack before slamming into her, pushing her back from Minato.

"…?" Jack turned around as Aigis ran over in front of Minato, her gunbarrel fingers trained readily upon Jack's small figure.

"Get away from him." Aigis declared in her cold, robotic voice, her eyes not diverting from Jack's. Her scanners allowed her to notice Jack's presence far more easily than the rest of S.E.E.S. However, in her eyes, she did not truly see Jack as _Jack_; all she could process Jack was something powerful. Something malevolent. Something that shouldn't exist.

Jack frowned, disliking the, in her eyes, sentient golem's words "Out of our way. We only want to eat him."

"No, I won't let you hurt him." Aigis activated her evoker and summoned Palladion, who charged at Jack again.

"We won't fall for that again." Jack weaved past Palladion and slashed against Aigis' chest, sparks flying upon contact.

"Kuh!" Aigis unleashed her guns and fired upon Jack, letting a cascade of bullets fall upon Jack's position. Surprisingly, Jack evaded every single last bullet, only mildly annoyed by Aigis' efforts.

_*RATATATATATATATATATATAT!*_

The sound of gunshots alerted the rest of S.E.E.S., all of whom turned around in surprise.

"What the- the hell did all that mist come from?" Junpei jumped back in shock.

Yukari looked around, worried "Hey, weren't Minato-kun and Aigis behind us?"

Mitsuru turned to Fuuka "Yamagishi, there's something wrong…"

"I-I got it!" Fuuka brought her evoker to her head and summoned Lucia. After a few seconds, she recoiled back, terrified.

"Yamagishi! What's the matter?"

Fuuka shuddered "T-There's something _inhuman_ in there, it's producing this mist, and it has Aigis and Minato-kun cornered."

"Tch!" Mitsuru unsheathed her rapier "Come on, let's get them out of there."

"No wait!" Fuuka stopped her "That mist cloud is poisonous. If we just blindly run in there, we'll be dead within minutes."

Akihiko frowned "Then what are we supposed to do? Just stand here while Arisato dies of poison inhalation?"

"…" Fuuka bit her lip, unsure of what to do next "I… I don't know what we should do about this…"

* * *

><p>Minato, still slumped upon the ground, watched helplessly as Aigis fought off Jack to the best of her abilities. Unfortunately, he could see it was a one-sided battle; Jack was effortlessly dodging Aigis' bullets and Palladion's attacks, while counterattacking with her knives. Also, he noticed Jack's slashing was making multiple dents and incisions upon Aigis' frame, not to mention that Aigis expended much of her bullets and energy fighting the Full Moon Shadows earlier that night. So, unless Aigis can somehow end it right now, the psychotic kid was gonna finish them off...<p>

No, he can't let that happen. He won't let that happen.

He already lost his family ten years ago.

There was no way he was going to die knowing that another loved one died with him being helpless to stop it.

Ignoring the pain in his chest, Minato went for his Evoker and took it out of his holster.

'I don't have much energy left… better make this count…'

Barely making out Jack's and Aigis' figures through the blackened mist, he placed the evoker up to his head and steeled his resolve.

"Come forth!"

He pulled the trigger as the sound of shattered glass echoed throughout the enshrouded street.

However, no Persona emerged from his Sea of Souls.

Instead, his body screamed in agony, if only for an instant, before a blindingly white light engulfed the street.

And then, _she_ manifested.

Before him, a beautiful girl holding an equally elegant naginata, stood before him. She had piercing crimson eyes and long auburn hair in a high ponytail. For some reason, she was garbed in the Gekkoukan High School uniform.

The girl, initially surprised upon seeing her him, gave him a comforting smile.

"Hello, you were the one who summoned me, right?"

She asked him with a sweet, comforting voice.

Minato could do nothing more than nod dumbly at her question, not even noticing an intricate mark engrave itself on his left hand.

"Okay! It'll be a pleasure working with you!"

She beamed at him before turning to Jack and Aigis, both of whom stopped mid-fight to witness the summoning.

"Alright, who was the one who hurt him?" changing her kind demeanor almost immediately, she barked at the two in an angry tone.

"She did." Aigis bluntly pointed at Jack, not even bothering to question the girl's sudden appearance. True, she did detect an impossible source of power from her, but unlike Jack, this one seemed far more benevolent, almost familiar even.

The girl glared at Jack before looking up "Huh, this mist isn't natural, is it? Is it one of your abilities, or is it part of your Noble Phantasm?" she shook her head in disgust "Regardless, I definitely can't have it here, now can I?" she snapped her fingers, and the Mist dissipated in almost an instant.

Jack flinched in surprise "What?!" the girl- no, the _Servant_ before her dispelled her own Noble Phantasm as if it was nothing. Who was she?

"Aigis! Arisato!"

Mitsuru and the rest of S.E.E.S. ran over to them.

"What happened? Are you two okay-" Mitsuru paused as she took a glance at Jack and the other Servant, their sudden appearance (and their appearance in general) catching her off guard.

Junpei blinked in confusion "Um, I'm not the only one seeing these guys, right?" he asked, pointing at the two Servants.

"Who, the girl in our school uniform or the kid not wearing pants?" Yukari asked, just as confused as Junpei was. Indeed, the two before them, with their unique choices of clothing, would definitely attract their attention regardless of their location.

But that was not important. Before them, the two were standing only a small distance away from S.E.E.S.; close enough for them to see.

However, for some reason, they dared not get any closer to them. The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, all of whom were experienced fighters in their own right, almost unconsciously understood that they were not to set foot in there.

Only those chosen- Only Servants had the right to their battleground.

"You are Assassin of the Black, aren't you?" The naginata-wielding servant said finally.

Jack nodded "Yes, we are Assassin." Her legion-like voice boomed "And judging from your weapon, you must be Lancer of the Red, are you not?"

Lancer impaled the naginata upon the ground before leaning on it, folding her arms "And what if I am? It still makes no difference on who the victor will be."

"Says the Servant summoned impromptu by a clueless master." Assassin deadpanned.

Lancer puffed her cheeks in anger "At least my master managed to show up for battle, while yours is nowhere to be seen." She motioned to Minato, who was still bewildered by the entire situation.

Assassin growled "Do not talk of _Master/Mother_ like that."

"Then let's end this talk and do what we were summoned for." Lancer plucked her naginata from the ground and brandished it, beckoning her opponent to come.

"Indeed." Assassin vanished into thin air before reappearing directly behind Lancer, ready to strike. "Die."

Lancer twirled her naginata behind her and effortlessly parried Assassin's attack before turning around and stabbed Assassin in the shoulder, pinning her to a nearby wall.

With Assassin temporarily immobilized, Lancer focused her attention to S.E.E.S. and yelled "What the hell are you waiting for?! Get him out of here! Go! I got this!"

Jarred back to reality from Lancer's orders, Akihiko and Junpei hastily picked up Minato's injured body and joined the rest of S.E.E.S. as they fled from the premises.

Assassin, unfazed by the pain in her shoulder, glared at Lancer "You made us lose our meal…" she muttered as she impaled one of her knives into one of Lancer's arms and slammed her foot into Lancer's gut, knocking her back long enough for her to yank the naginata out of her shoulder and toss it aside.

"Now… die!" Assassin snarled as she charged at Lancer, channeling the power of her second Noble Phantasm, Maria the Ripper. It wouldn't immediately kill her without her Mist, but crippling her for a finishing blow would suffice.

Lancer, despite being disarmed, did not falter as a gun-esque object materialized in her hands. Mere seconds before Assassin plunged her knives into her, Lancer pressed the barrel of the 'gun' against her head and steeled her resolve.

"I summon you!" she pulled the trigger of her 'gun', blue ethereal glass spraying from her head before materializing into a terrifying form.

It was vaguely humanoid, wearing a pitch-black coat, a leather belt with a buckle of skull and crossbones, and pale white gloves. Its head was wrapped underneath its black coat, with a beaked metal visor and a metal jaw taking any semblance of a face. A long, guard-less sword was sheathed upon its side. But the most striking part of it all were a row of coffins, all chained together, floating behind the humanoid akin to a cape.

The humanoid intercepted Assassin's assault, grabbing her and holding her tightly in its hands.

Assassin struggled in the humanoid's grasp as she stared into its eyes, or rather, where its eyes were supposed to be. She stared upon it, recalling her own cold, painful death all those years ago. The pain and coldness of dying resonated in her head over and over again, all from staring into the creature holding her in place. And with that death, an old emotion, fear, swelled up again in her heart.

"Thanatos…"

_No!_

_Master/Mother is waiting for us! _

_We don't want to be alone!_

"Let's end this…"

_We don't want to die!_

_We don't want to be cold anymore!_

"Megido-"

_We want to live!_

Before Lancer could finish, Assassin immediately reverted to spirit form, breaking free from the creature's grasp, before fleeing for her life.

"la…" Lancer voice trailed off, surprised at the sudden turn of events.

The creature, Thanatos, stared at its empty hands before turning to its master, its silence denoting its disappointment.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know I got too caught up in the moment. Sue me." Lancer rolled her eyes as Thanatos vanished into nothingness.

She glanced at the Full Moon as its unnatural sickly green shade slowly reverted back to pale white, almost as if hit with a haunting nostalgia. She stared at it for several moments, the world around her returning to normal.

And then something else entirely hit her.

"Oh crap! I almost forgot about my Master!" Lancer panicked as she dematerialized into spirit form.

* * *

><p>Assassin reappeared right next to Reika, clutching the arm Lancer stabbed earlier that night.<p>

"Jack? What happened? Are you alright?" Reika asked, worried.

"We'll be fine." Assassin answered "We just didn't anticipate our prey was another Master with a Servant. It's a mistake we won't make again."

_*gurgle…*_

Assassin's stomach growled "We guess that did work up our appetite a bit though…" she said, turning her head in embarrassment.

Reika smiled and crouched down, meeting Assassin's gaze "It's getting late. How about we head to our hotel room and I make us dinner, okay?"

Assassin smiled "Okay…" she said as she took Reika by the hand and walked out of the alley, the green moon turning pale white once again.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Lancer's Stats<strong>

**Class: Lancer of Red**

**Master: Minato Arisato**

**True Name: Not Available**

**Height/Weight: 160 cm/Not Available**

**Alignment: Neutral Good**

**Strength: C+**

**Endurance: C+**

**Agility: B**

**Mana: EX**

**Luck: D+++**

**Noble Phantasm: EX**

**Class Skills**

**Magic Resistance: A**

**Territory Creation: E-**

**Item Construction: A**

**Personal Skills**

**Double Summon: A  
>The capacity to fulfill the role of another servant. She possesses the capability to become the Caster class if she so wishes to, and can fulfill both roles with little difficulty.<strong>

**Charisma: A  
>it has been said that many have fallen for charms, and her leadership abilities have brought her victory on countless occasions. Her high proficiency in this skill reflects her ability as the leader of S.E.E.S. and as her ability to influence the people around her, particularly her Social Links.<strong>

**Soul of a Martyr: B  
>is a mental protection that protects against mental interference. Lancer has a high proficiency of this skill due to believing in humanity's will to survive despite facing humanity's collective unconscious desire for death.<strong>

**Revelation: A  
>is a Skill equivalent to Instinct, a sixth sense regarding battles; however, "Revelation" accommodates all matters related to the achievement of a goal. At A-Rank, Lancer will have this sixth sense during anything she puts her mind to.<strong>

**Discernment of the Poor: A  
>insight to see through the opponent's character and attribute. Lancer won't be fooled by excuses and deceptions through words, regardless if she can do anything about the outcome…<strong>

****The Wild Card: EX  
><strong>******The ability to call forth multiple Personas from the Sea of Souls into battle. This heroic spirit, due to drawing her power from her bonds, was able to use this ability to its greatest potential while she was alive.****

****Noble Phantasms****

**Vel Vel Muruga: A (Anti-Unit)**

**A legendary spear said to have been used by Kartikeya, the Hindu God of War. While powerful enough on its own, calling forth its name will boost all of Lancer's parameters up a letter grade, reflecting the original Vel Vel Muruga's ability to increase its user's stats and attack power. When she's not using this weapon, she uses a regular naginata, and fights with Vel Vel Muruga as such. It requires her to make use of her Item Construction Skill and a Nihil Weapon should she need to summon it.**

**Persona: Manifestation of one's true self: E~EX (Anti-Self)**

**The aspects of one's personality in physical form. These Personas can and will fight for the one who had called them forth. Their power is significantly higher during the Dark Hour or other similar Reality Marbles. However, like other Persona users she is susceptible to Persona Break, which will not only disable her ability to use her Personas for a short period of time, but will also downgrade her Strength stat by a letter grade for that duration, reflecting her vulnerable state and shattered focus that side-effects from Persona Break.**

**The Great Seal: EX (Anti-God/Anti-Unit)**

**Using the power of the Universe Arcana, The Great Seal is an almighty attack that allowed Lancer to seal away the Goddess Nyx. This Noble Phantasm can defeat any single enemy, even those with Divinity, but since it is the symbol of her own sacrifice to the world, she will return back to the Seal shortly after it is used.**

**The Dark Hour: A (Anti-World)**

**A Reality Marble that creates an artificial "hidden" hour in the day. Whenever this Noble Phantasm is used, the Outside World turns sickly green, water turns into blood, electronics stop functioning, and people without the 'potential' will be sealed in coffins. It lasts only an hour, but for that time, Lancer's power is raised significantly and all those with the 'potential' will be able to safely use their Personas. However, once it's over, Lancer's Agility stat will lower by a letter grade for a set period of time, reflecting the fatigue that naturally occurs when exposed to the Dark Hour for prolonged periods. Lancer did not have this Noble Phantasm in life, but has it now due to it being an integral part of her myth and for being indirectly responsible for it due to Death (the actual Death, not the Arcana) being sealed within her.**

**Other Notes**

**Lancer is an unusual case amongst Servants in that she isn't from the Throne of Heroes. Instead, she is a copy of a soul that is trapped elsewhere; though there seems to be no negative effect on the original soul. Due to her unique circumstances, she cannot be identified by a Ruler-Class Servant.**

**A/N: And thus the first battle in the Great Holy Grail War has ended! This is something I had on my mind for a long time now, since there are all sorts of fics that have Minato as the Servant, but never the Female Protagonist. I dunno if anyone's really gonna read it, but I just wanted to post this so I had no regrets.**

**P.S. this is going to take place in Romania... eventually. Just give me another chapter to set it up. Can't have him in Iwatodai City one minute and have him in Romania the next. That would be cool though. Lazy, but cool.**

**As always, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Breaking the Cycle**

**By psychored1911**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Persona 3, Persona 3 Portable, or Fate/Apocrypha**

**Okay, before I begin, I'd like to note that I modified some of Lancer's Noble Phantasms; her Dark Hour Noble Phantasm will lower her Agility, Endurance and Strength stats once it's over (mirroring fatigue obtained after leaving Tartarus in P3P) and she will experience Persona Break and gain a downgrade in her Strength stat (reflecting the vulnerable state the Persona-User suffers from it.**

**Also, just to note, I did some research on the Holy Grail War. If the Third Holy Grail War ended during 1939, right before WWII, the Fourth Holy Grail War would have occurred somewhere around 1999, and since Fate/Stay Night, the Fifth Holy Grail War, occurs ten years later, it would happen around 2009, which is exactly when Persona 3 takes place. Makes it quite fitting if you ask me.**

**But that's not important. Anyways, on with the show!**

* * *

><p><strong>87- Iwatodai Dorm- Meeting Room**

Shuji Ikutsuki, chairman and advisor of S.E.E.S., poured himself a cup of tea, waiting patiently for S.E.E.S. to arrive. According to them, S.E.E.S. had eliminated the two Full Moon Shadows that manifested that night. Though this time, he wondered what's taking them so long; they were usually here by now. The Dark Hour already ended a couple minutes ago.

_*Ikutsuki-san! Open the door! We have a situation!*_

"Huh?" Ikutsuki stood up in alarm, accidentally spilling his tea in the process "What's going on?"

_*We'll explain later! Just open the door right now!*_

"Alright, alright…" Ikutsuki, not noticing his spilled tea, stood up and rushed down to the ground floor, opening the front door just as Fuuka, Mitsuru, and a heavily damaged Aigis entered the lobby.

"Forgive us for our haste, but we needed to get in as soon as possible." Mitsuru apologized, panting heavily from exhaustion.

"I can see that." Ikutsuki said, taking note of the lack of members present "Where is everyone else?"

"Arisato has been severely injured; Akihiko, Iori and Takeba took him to the hospital." Mitsuru told him.

Ikutsuki nodded "Hmm, the Full Moon Shadows this time must have been especially vicious-"

"I-It wasn't the Full Moon Shadows this time." Fuuka spoke up, clearly shaken "S-Someone… _something_ attacked us when we were coming back."

Ikutsuki stared at her, alarmed"What happened? What attacked you?"

"I-I…" Fuuka hesitated, almost wracking her brains in thought "I don't know what that was… All I know was I sensed something… evil… and very powerful… it was… it wanted to _eat_ him. Aigis tried to protect him, b-but…" she feebly gestured to Aigis, who was barely managing to stand with her damaged limbs.

"That's horrible," Ikutsuki gasped "Did you know who did this?"

"It was-" Fuuka froze, her voice losing all fear, instead turning into a palpable confusion "Well… Well… I…" she turned to Mitsuru, who had been standing in quiet thought, the worry prominent in her eyes "Mitsuru-senpai," Fuuka got her senpai's attention "You saw what attacked Minato-kun, right?"

Mitsuru nodded "Well of course-" she started before she too had trouble remembering, before turning to AIgis "Aigis, the appearance of Arisato's assailant is in your memory data, correct?"

Aigis shook her head "Negative. All combat data of our assailant is void in my memory banks."

"WHAT?!" surprise was to be expected; all memory and records of a person simply just can't disappear especially if it were to happen mere minutes before. Of course, they didn't know of Assassin of Black's Information Erasure Skill, which eliminates everything except for forensic evidence.

"So, not only was Minato-kun injured by some unknown attacker, we can't even identify said attacker," Ikutsuki frowned, shaking his head "This is most troublesome indeed. But now I'm curious; if you were attacked, how did you manage to escape?"

Mitsuru shook her head "That's just as confusing." She told him "A fellow student of ours, a second year judging from her uniform, was fending… it… off, giving us a chance to extract Arisato and Aigis." She frowned in frustration "The problem is, I didn't recognize her; as Student Council President, I should know everybody in the student body."

"Mitsuru-san, I believe that her identity is not of priority at the moment." Aigis mentioned offhandedly.

"Though it was strange how she had that naginata with her." Fuuka commented.

"True, we were able to procure weapons for fighting the shadows, but we needed to purchase them from Officer Kurosawa or find them in Tartarus." Mitsuru added.

Ikutsuki blinked in confusion "Hold on a minute, are you telling me you caught a glimpse of this one student, whom you've never seen before, yet you can't identify the assailant?"

Mitsuru's frown grew "When you put it like that, it makes the situation sound even worse." She took a deep breath "It's not important now. We need to confirm Arisato's condition. Ikutsuki, call up Akihiko. I'll call up the Kirijo headquarters and call for them to retrieve Aigis; she won't be in any condition to fight for a while."

* * *

><p><strong>87-Tatsumi Memorial Hospital**

Right after the Dark Hour ended, Akihiko and Junpei tried to carry Minato all the way to the hospital. Tried to; Junpei, who was much more badly injured than Akihiko during the fight with the Full Moon Shadows, quickly tired out, unable to keep up with Akihiko's pace and nearly dropped Minato several times as a result. Yukari, who was trailing behind them, had enough sense between the three of them to hail a cab so they didn't need to carry him all the way.

Now, thirty minutes (and a lecture from the doctors on how carrying someone with broken ribs over their shoulders is a bad idea) later, Minato was laid upon a hospital bed, unconscious, his chest wrapped in bandages and his face covered by a respirator.

Outside, Junpei, Akihiko and Yukari stood outside, talking with the doctor.

"So doc, how is he?" Junpei asked, worried.

The doctor went through his clipboard "Well besides the broken ribs, he's suffering severe acute smoke inhalation, along with several minor scrapes and bruises. We're gonna probably need to keep him on a respirator for a while. You needn't worry though, there's nothing permanent."

The three of them sighed in relief, knowing that their friend, who will probably have to sit out for a while, is going to be okay.

_*ring, ring*_

As the doctor started walking away, Akihiko's cell phone began to ring "Hello?" he asked as he answered it "Yeah, don't worry Ikutsuki-san, the doctor said he's gonna be fine. But he'll probably be out of it for a while." His relieved face slowly turned into a frown, which did not go unnoticed by either Junpei or Yukari "…No, I don't think I recall what attacked Aigis and Minato-san…" he said hesitantly "Wait, what do you mean you guys don't know what it looked like?"

"Akihiko-senpai, is there something wrong?" Yukari asked.

Akihiko didn't immediately answer, and instead asked "Hey, you guys see what attacked Arisato and Aigis?"

The two of them began thinking about it for a few seconds before frowning "Well, now that you mention it, all I remember seeing was some girl standing in front of Minato-kun and Aigis. Yeah, I think she had our uniform, piercing red eyes, brunette hair-"

"Not to mention she was totally hot!" Junpei added, only to receive a glare from his two fellow S.E.E.S. members "Uh… yeah, she also had a whatchamacallit- a spear on her."

Akihiko nodded "Okay, we don't know who attacked him, but we saw a student with brunette hair and red eyes-" Akihiko paused; it seems like Mitsuru was interrupting him on something "Alright, I'll go tell them." He hung up his phone "Alright, bad news, they apparently got nothing on that… thing that attacked Arisato-san; all we have is the appearance of that girl who distracted it, and even then, we can't even identify her."

Junpei scratched his head in frustration "Damn it! How the hell can't we remember what happened?! It couldn't have been an hour since we ran from that thing!"

"Junpei, calm down." Akihiko told him "Look, we're probably just too stressed out over the turn of events to remember properly. I'm sure it'll come back to us once we get some rest. Now come on, we should probably head back to the dorm. Mitsuru's waiting for us."

"…" Junpei mumbled something inaudible under his breath before giving a reluctant nod, following Akihiko out. As they walked out, Yukari looked into the window of Minato's room "Sleep tight, Minato-kun, we'll come back tomorrow." She said as she followed her friends out of the hospital.

As soon as the three S.E.E.S. members left, Lancer of Red Materialized right next to her master, her evoker gripped tightly in her hands. Recalling the death god back to her Sea of Souls, she called forth a different Persona as she put her evoker against her head once again.

"Parvati, Diaharan."

With a pull of the trigger, the beautiful Hindu goddess of love materialized behind Lancer, casting a calming wave of light over her master. Within seconds, Minato's wounds from his previous fights closed, and his shattered ribs realigned themselves back into place; it was as if he was never injured in the first place. He coughed raucously, expelling the toxic fumes from his lungs, removing the last of his ailments.

Lancer smiled, taking a seat next to Minato's bed, poking at his cheeks affectionately. The boy before him, her Master in the Holy Grail War, is undoubtedly the one who will bear her inevitable fate in this world.

"Don't worry…" she said as she clenched her fists tightly "I won't let you bear my fate. I'll make sure of it."

* * *

><p><strong>Velvet Room<strong>

Minato found himself sitting in front of Igor, Elizabeth, and... a third person, who looked and dressed similarly to Elizabeth.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor greeted with him with that same, eerie smile of his. "It seems as though you had quite the evening."

"That's one way to put it." Minato muttered before returning his attention to the third person in the room "So, who's he?"

"Allow me to introduce myself." the young man said with a deep bow "My name is Theodore. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

"He's also my little brother." Elizabeth said with a smile "I called him over to assist us for your coming predicament."

"What are you talking about?"

'I believe the answer lies upon your left hand." Igor pointed at the Command Seals on his hand, which Minato only took notice of recently "I say, none of this room's previous guests have ever had a predicament such as yourself."

'Again, what are you talking about?" Minato asked, his patience a bit thinner than earlier.

"Well, because this situation is very unique, we had to do some research on this matter." Elizabeth put her compendium on the table for a second, and pulled out a different book "Here we go! This is a book I borrowed from some experts on the subject. However, they did not seem very keen on sharing it; I even recall them screaming and trying to assault me." She frowned with a pout "it was quite rude of them; I _was_ planning on returning it later after we were done with it."

"..."

"..."

Minato and Igor exchanged confused glances for a split second before Elizabeth started flipping through the pages "ah, here we go! " she exclaimed as she pointed at a specific page "what you have is called a Command Seal, which is, for all intents and purposes, the symbol of status as a master, who is a participant in a Grail War and the summoner/partner of a Servant. A servant is…"

Elizabeth went on and on about concepts for this "Holy Grail War", which he had a bit of trouble wrapping her head upon. He started thinking how troublesome it would be to explain such convoluted concepts to a total newbie like himself.

"Could you get to the point, please? I'll go over this stuff again later, just tell me the important parts."

"Of course." Elizabeth nodded, flipping through the pages "You have been chosen for something known as a Holy Grail War, a battle for a wish-granting artifact aptly known as the Holy Grail. According to this, the original Grail Wars used to have up to seven participants, and some of them had as little as five participants. However, the one you're participating in has fourteen participants due to a backup system, with you as participant number thirteen. And judging from the individual sitting next to your bed, you summoned the Lancer Servant, one of the stronger Servants in the system."

Minato nodded "Okay. So I take it that I can't back out of this thing?"

"Well," Elizabeth flipped through the pages "You could, but you're giving up the chance to make your wish come true."

That's not exactly a concern for him…

"While also also making it easier for someone with maligned intentions to get their wish…"

That… caught his attention.

"Well, that's what it says here." Elizabeth commented, glancing curiously at the page as Theodore tried to take a look for himself, only for her to smack him upside the head with the heavy tome, before continuing "Of course, I know for a fact that our guest would never let any such thing happen."

Well, he did have a penchant for getting himself dragged into situations… and not exactly getting a real say in the matter…

"Fine, where is this thing located?" he said in resignation.

Elizabeth shrugged "It says here that the original Grail Wars were in a place called Fuyuki City, but when this ritual was replicated, Grail Wars ran off all over the world."

"And where is this one?"

"I don't know." Elizabeth shrugged "Why don't you ask your Servant when you wake up?"

"I'll do that." Minato shrugged as he prepared to get up from his seat "Oh, and Elizabeth,"

"Yes?"

"Please return that book from whoever you probably stole it from." He said in a completely blunt manner.

"Of course." She bowed before casually tossing the tome into Theodore's arms "You heard him; return the book."

"Huh?" Theodore's eyes widened in confusion "But sister, I don't know from whom you borrowed the book from!"

"Well, figure it out." Elizabeth said bluntly as she started stacking more and more things on top of the heavy tome "And while you're at it, carry this stuff as well."

"But why would I-"

"Oh, no reason. I just want to see if you can carry it all without dropping them." she said with a devilish smirk on her face

Minato snorted, shaking his head in amusement, as he left the Velvet Room, expecting to wake up in his room any time now.

* * *

><p><strong>87-Early Morning, Hospital Room**

Minato's eyes slowly opened up, his body sore, and his mind groggier than it should be.

'The hell? Why is my body so...' The words trailed off as the events of the previous night hit him like a truck.

"You shouldn't move much; the wounds may be healed, but too much stress might open them up again."

"I'll keep that in mind Aigis." Minato grumbled, still half-asleep.

"No problem, Master."

...Since when did Aigis start calling him "Master"?

…

…

...Oh no...

"Urgh, Aigis, whatever you found in Junpei's room, put it back, then permanently wipe that from your memory, and then sterilize yourself for good measure."

"What do you mean by- Oh god! No! Ew! EWWWW! Don't put those images in my head!"

It was then that Minato realized two things: One, he was in a hospital room, not his room; and Two, he wasn't talking to Aigis (who was badly damaged last time he checked), he was talking to that Servant girl, Lancer, yeah, that was what she was called… She's pretty cute.

"Okay, first of all, never put that image in my mind ever again! Just, UGGGHHHHH!" Lancer inwardly cringed.

"...Sorry?" Minato apologized, tilting his head in confusion "You're Lancer, right?"

That got Lancer's attention "Yeah, I am your Servant, Lancer of Red." she said as she outstretched her hand "I never actually got your name back then. What is it?"

"Minato Arisato." Minato said as he attempted to shake her hand, only for Lancer to suddenly jerk her hand back in surprise.

"M-Minato Arisato?" Lancer stuttered in shock.

"Yes?" Minato raised a brow "Is there a problem?"

"N-No! There's no problem at all!" Lancer hastily said as she vigorously shook her Master's hand "It'll be a pleasure working with you, Master."

"Don't call me that."

"Eh?"

"Don't call me Master." Minato frowned "that sounds like the kind of thing I'd find in one of Junpei's-"

Lancer suddenly summoned her naginata to her hand and shoved the blade to his neck "I said don't bring that up!"

"Okay, okay, jeez!" Minato carefully pushed the blade away from his neck "Just call me Minato, like everyone else. Keep it simple, okay?"

"Minato-kun." Lancer repeated it a couple times to commit it to memory "Alright, Minato-kun, you may call me… uh, Lancer."

Minato snorted "So, when you were born, they up and called you Lancer, is that so?"

"It's more of a title than anything." Lancer said, squatting down on a nearby chair. Not exactly convinced, Minato stares at her sarcastically. Submitting to his sarcastic gaze she says, "Fine! You can call me...uh, Kotone Shiomi."

'Really? As in Kotone Shiomi, the voice actress? That can't be right...' Minato inwardly sweatdropped; this girl clearly didn't want him to know who she was, going as far as to use an (albeit poor) pseudonym for herself. He wasn't going to pry, of course; everyone's entitled to her own secrets. "Okay then, _Kotone-san_, I'll play along-"

"Yo, Minato-kun! Ya feelin better?" Junpei said as he barged in.

"Keep your voice down, Stupei! You're not supposed to yell in a hospital!" Yukari scolded as she came in after him.

"Aw, relax! I bet he's not even awake-"

The two of them stopped in their tracks as they spotted the mystery girl, who had saved them from that _thing_ that attacked them, just sitting there with their badly injured best friend.

"S'up." Kotone nodded, waving at them with a nostalgic smile.

Yeah, this wasn't gonna end well.

* * *

><p><strong>88- England**

England, where the Mage Association's headquarters, the Clock Tower, resides. Where aspiring Magi who wish to lay their claim to their own part of thaumaturgical history.

Unfortunately for them, it is cruelly theorized, or it is absolute fact, that every student who tries to pursue this path will somehow, in some way, end in complete failure… But of course, they do have the right to their own aspirations.

This is how Kairi Shishigou sees it, in case anyone was wondering.

As he bemused these thoughts, he accidentally ran into one of the students. He was about to apologize when said student flinched and fled from Kairi as fast as he possibly could.

Kairi never was fond of this sort of development. To his own misfortune, this was the norm for him. Sure, depending on the type of chemicals or thaumaturgy, it could cause some deformities, but even they were more akin to proud battle scars rather than humiliating marks.

But for Kairi, he was always treated with some sort of scorn; walking towards the Clock Tower alone drew the suspicion of police who suspected him as some sort of escaped convict (he would have taken a taxi, but none of them even wanted to open their doors to him). By the time he actually did reach the Clock Tower, he was stopped by Tower security. Several times. And then there was all of those students who ran away in terror…

Of course, like any other rational human being, Kairi wanted to complain, but their answer was always along the lines of "You are scary looking." Or "You're terrifying to look at." Or in a particularly rude case "You're just plain ugly."

Kairi always disliked these things. Sure, he was Asian in descent, and his stature was rather daunting, and his choice in clothing was unorthodox compared to other magi, but that was no excuse for discrimination! Most western societies had even banned discrimination for decades!

But that was irrelevant at the moment. Right now, he was in the office of Rocco Belfaban, the head of the Clock Tower's Department of Summoning.

"Now, there is only one reason for me to call for the likes of someone like you." Belfaban told him in a condescending tone "Have you ever heard of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War?"

Kairi frowned "Well, yeah. I do." A Holy Grail War was a battle for a "Holy Grail" that would supposedly grants wishes. But since The Mage's Association saw little in a country such as Japan, it went unheeded for the first two wars. In fact, it wasn't until the Third Holy Grail War that they did gain some attention, due to various countries interfering with World War II. By then, this ritual had become famous throughout the Magi in the world. In fact, hadn't the Greater Grail been lost, the Fourth Holy Grail War would have come to pass ten years ago.

Even today, there have been several recreations of the Holy Grail War, but they are far smaller in size and participation; none of them have the power to grant wishes.

"So, do you know of its true purpose?"

"No."

Belfaban grinned "It was intended to reach the Swirl of the Root."

This caught Kairi's attention "What did you say?" If that was its true purpose, then it was the Servants that were the important factors in the war, not the Masters. Because the Lesser Grail temporarily prevents Heroic Spirits from returning to the Throne of Heroes, they could use the powerful souls of the Heroic Spirits to reach Akasha.

"So, basically, it's different from all those other Holy Grail Wars?"

Belfaban nodded "It's truly different from those that only serve to 'grant a wish'."

It was surprising. Reaching the Root might be the true meaning of the Holy Grail War, but no one truly knew of it; the Greater Grail having been stolen from them and the Three Founding families not conducting another Grail War after that. Even a team of First-Class magi from the Clock Tower wouldn't be able to reproduce the Fuyuki Holy Grail War perfectly.

"So, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Yes, that's the problem…" Belfaban's voice trailed off "Well… three months ago, we finally found it. Or rather, found where it was hidden."

"Really? Where was it?"

"Romania, in a small city called Trifas. It's supposedly in the oldest building in the city, a castle called the Fortress of Millenia."

"So, you want me to retrieve it for you guys?" Kairi asked.

"Well, that is the gist of it, but there's a problem with that. You see, the one who brought us that information was the elder of the Yggdmillenia Clan, Darnic.

"You mean the Eight-Forked tongue Darnic?" Kairi asked, surprised.

"Yes, that Darnic."

Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia- the elder of the Yggdmillenia Clan, was a very unique man. Attaining the rank of Grand, the highest rank within the Association, and a second-class instructor in the Clock Tower, he was a master manipulator amongst even the internal chaos within the Association, able to outfox, con and manipulate anyone regardless if they trusted him or not. He was truly a force to be reckoned with.

"So, the elder of the Yggdmillenia Clan is the problem?"

Kairi asked. It wouldn't be much to assume that Darnic would want some large ransom for an object that could bring a magus' dreams to reach the Swirl of the Root.

Belfaban frowned, his face contorting to a rare expression of rage "No, it's not only Darnic, it's the entire Yggdmillenia Clan that's the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"The Yggdmillenia clan owns the Fortress, and they are seceding from the Clock Tower."

"…What?" Kairi uttered, surprised. Of course, who wouldn't be? Defection from the Magi Association isn't something uncommon, as heresy or the need for their power to be sealed were always good reasons for magi to defect, but for an entire clan to secede? That's just madness.

"The entire fucking clan defected?"

"Yes, and what makes it even more surprising is that they aren't Lords." It is true; the Yggdmillenia clan has no ties to any of the three royal families nor to the 20 related clans. In fact, they weren't recognized as a noble thaumaturgical family at all. The most the clan did to thicken their thaumaturgical potential was rake up any smaller clan with weak or declining magic circuits, or even those who were forced into disgrace from the Clock Tower into their ranks. Whatever it was, in the end it was nothing but a loose confederation of lesser magi; even their crest wasn't unified. Since they posed very little threat even with their large numbers, the royals tolerated their laughable existence.

"Still, declaring secession to create their own Association of Magi…" Belfaban sighed, with Kairi nodding in agreement. To declare secession from the Clock Tower would be equivalent to declaring war in other terms.

"Well, when they defected, they were going to use the Greater Grail as the symbol of their unified front, but they made the mistake of prematurely gloating to us before they initiated the ritual." he gave Kairi a wicked grin "So we sent at fifty of our best magi to retrieve it."

"And?"

Forty nine of them died; they were unfortunate enough to encounter one of their servants instead of the Masters…" Belfaban grinned "However, the last one activated the Grail's Reserve system, which allows for another seven servants to be summoned should the first seven servants stand in alliance." Belfaban nodded "And their headquarters stands above one of the oldest leylines in Romania, so they have more than enough mana to support them all."

This definitely piqued Kairi's interest "And where does that leave me?"

"We've already sent five of the other Masters to Trifas already, four mercenaries and the church overseer. Our sixth master is an aberrant, likely a parallel made by the Grail to make it equivalent to the other faction. That would leave our final Master…"

"As me," Kairi finished "So you want me to act as the last Master for this faction."

"Precisely." Belfaban grinned "So, what do you say? Of course, we'll pay very handsomely-"

"Half up front, and… that." Kairi stood up and picked up the Juvenile Hydra, perfectly preserved in a jar of alcohol, from a nearby display case.

"This job doesn't have a high survival rate, so the pay is understandable, but you really want that forgery.

It was clearly the genuine article; he can hear the desperate, almost pleading tone in the elderly man's voice. "I'm sure. This deal is non-negotiable."

Belfaban sighed in resignation "Alright then, half up-front, and the forgery. Oh, and before I forget," he placed a small box on the table "We took the liberty of choosing a catalyst for your summoning ritual for you. Please accept it; good catalysts are so hard to find these days."

"You're too kind." Kairi said, taking the catalyst in his free hand before near-jubilantly walking off with both the jar and the catalyst in tow.

* * *

><p><strong>87-Early morning**

"W-who are you?!" Yukari frantically asked as the two of them closed in on her.

"Who are you?" Kotone shot back, mimicking Minato's dull tone of voice.

"There's three of us surrounding you. You answer us!" Technically, Junpei was right, but Minato was in no way capable of protecting himself and 'Kotone' was a servant, so yeah...

"Yeah, but I asked first." Kotone countered, clearly amused by their reactions

"Well-" Yukari blinked "Wait, no you didn't!"

Minato could easily see that this situation was going to spiral out of control. He sighed in

exasperation "Look, all of you except for Junpei are pretty. Could you please calm down?"

"Who is she, Minato-kun?!" Yukari, who ignored Minato's comment, nearly shrieked as she virtually throwing herself between him and Lancer.

"Kotone Shiomi,"

Junpei blinked "You mean the famous voice actress?"

Minato rolled his eyes 'Oh come on, you can't seriously be buying her story, can you?'

Of course, Junpei being Junpei, he clearly did, and casually strolled over to Kotone.

"Hey, what'cha doin' later?" He says, trying way too hard to be slick.

Kotone's casual tone almost immediately went away, making way for quite a disgusted tone "No, that's just..." Her cheeks puffed in disgust, like she was about to gag.

"Hey, was the gag really necessary?" Junpei frowned. "I'm not that bad,"

Ignoring the ongoing exchange, Yukari inched closer to Minato. "What is she to you?"

Without missing a beat, Kotone cleared her throat and said "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kotone Shiomi, and I am Minato-kun's girlfriend."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Dear god, what the heck made me finish this chapter nearly a year after I started this fic?! Yeah, I'm sorry about this. I dunno how many readers this fic (I don't really check), and I've received a lot of constructive criticism from some of the reviewers, and I still need to set up how Minato and Lancer are gonna get to Romania for the Great Holy Grail War, but I'll get there, somehow. As always, Please review!**


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